The first project that came to be thanks to one of the $5,000 subsidies offered by the Coalition to hook up to the Dartmouth sewer line has finished.

Dartmouth resident Kevin Duggan wished to do his part by transitioning from septic to sewer. He called contractors: “They’d give ball-park figures and never show up. Some would call back, some wouldn’t, just adding to the frustration.”

Then he got a letter from the Coalition. “I contacted them the same week I received the letter, and Korrin [Peterson] made everything very easy from that point on,” he says. “She came to my home with Pontes Excavating, which came in slightly under all the quotes I had been given.”

“They worked quick and efficiently and were finished in less than a full day,” he added.

“I couldn’t be happier to have been able to receive some help with something I had been wanting to do anyhow,” he said. “And I was able to do it sooner than I was able to on my own thanks to the Buzzards Bay Coalition and the Connect-to-Protect grant.”

To reduce the approximately 3,200 pounds of nitrogen entering the Apponagansett Bay watershed annually, this initiative has a goal to convert 28 homes this year from septic to sewer.

Nitrogen pollution is the biggest threat to Dartmouth’s water quality. Too much nitrogen fuels excess algae growth that leads to murky waters, loss of habitat for fish and shellfish, and potential health risks that impact recreational use of Padanaram Harbor and the Bay.

This project is made possible through a federal EPA Southeast New England Program grant.

Pontes Excavating installs a connection to the town sewer line in Dartmouth.